Guilty verdict in home-invasion scheme

STOCKTON - Jurors found an East Bay man guilty Wednesday of committing a home-invasion robbery of a Manteca family last year that a prosecutor said was made possible through a betrayal of trust.

Scott Smith

STOCKTON - Jurors found an East Bay man guilty Wednesday of committing a home-invasion robbery of a Manteca family last year that a prosecutor said was made possible through a betrayal of trust.

Steven Pacheco, 28, was convicted on three counts of home-invasion robbery, discharge of a firearm and other charges. He faces a potential sentence of 41 years in state prison.

San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Ron Indran said Pacheco was tipped off by Antonio Bettencourt, 23, who dated the daughter in the robbed family for two years and pretended to be a victim in the same robbery.

"This family let him into their house," Indran said. "He set them up."

In the June 26 robbery, the father of the house awoke at 5 a.m. to find two armed and masked men in his family's home. The robbers took $5,000 in cash and some jewelry from a kitchen desk, Indran said.

The two armed men ran and the father gave chase, drawing gunfire, Indran said.

Manteca police detectives used phone records of text messages to link Bettencourt with Pacheco and Eric Sevilla, 30, the second masked robber.

The three robbers are from the Hayward area, Indran said. The victims live in a Manteca neighborhood off Pestana Avenue south of Louise Avenue.

Before trial, Sevilla accepted a deal with prosecutors, admitting to home-invasion robbery with a firearm for an eight-year prison term. Bettencourt pleaded guilty to home-invasion robbery in exchange for six years.

"Home-invasion robbery is a very scary thing," Indran said. "We as law enforcement take it very seriously."

San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Xapuri Villapudua is expected to sentence Pacheco on March 14.